Lots of Fun! French Buns at Firestone Creek!

Firestone Creek now has French angora RABBITS!

I'm a creativity junkie. I love being creative. I've always had an interest in fiber arts, and a few months back, we were thinking about purchasing a couple of alpacas (and we might still do that). I've also always LOVED the angora rabbits--all of them. I'm two shoes in for anything "fluffy," most of the time. 

Instead of diving into a sea of alpacas, we decided to start small with a few French angoras, and we've been having so much fun with this fiber and all of the fluffy snuggles and kisses from these guys. We added 7 (2 males and 5 females) and lost one female within 2 days due to some illness, probably brought on by stress and bad nutrition from the previous owner. I treated everyone else with my herbal immune building formulation, began a new diet of high protein pellets, timothy, alfalfa, and crudities, and everyone else is fine and doing well. In fact, they are producing lots of fine hair and having babies! 

When we got these buns, they were matted and looking pretty rough. The lady actually admitted she had NEVER brushed them! I was in shock. As you can see in some of the photos, they do still have a few underbody mats, and two of the adults are moulting now, too. I've been working on the mats, but since it is winter, I don't want to begin shaving/clipping huge areas of hair away from their bodies, so I have to do it slowly--a little at a time. In the photo to the right, one of our males (Sebastian--middle) is visiting with two of the girls (one is hiding behind him). We also have a REW buck, but we bred Sebastian to everyone. So far, he was bred to our chocolate tort and produced two self blacks, two whites (not sure if they are BEW or REW because the eyes haven't opened yet), and one black tort (from what I can tell). He also bred our black tort and she delivered four little buns-- one that looks like it is a blue or lilac point, and the others are all blue/black torts.


It looks like we are going to have quite a few babies for sale, so we are now taking reservations. Currently, one of the self-blacks and most of the torts will be available for $45 each without papers. These will make wonderful little fiber fluffs to add some color to your fiber projects. The whites (whether blue eyed or red eyed) are also available as is the adult REW male we have. Since we are already getting REW out of our girls, we want to find him a good home. If interested, contact us via the farm site.

Panir -- Paneer -- Queso Fresco -- Whatever you want to call it!

Fresh Cheese

Panir, Paneer, Queso Frescho-- No Matter how you say it, it is Fresh Cheese and one of the easiest things you can make with fresh goat's milk. Many recipes will call for using lemon or vinegar for making fresh cheese, but I've found that using freshly made (or cultured) buttermilk and/or kefir works quite well and makes for a very flavorful cheese. Additionally, you can use fruit juices and even yogurt. Your goal is to raise the acidity of the milk after heating it. For fresh cheese, you heat to the boiling point but DO NOT BOIL. The best temp is around 195-200 F. 



Here's a simple recipe that can also be found on my website at Firestone Creek farm. If you have questions, feel free to ask me here in the comments or you can always add Firestone Creek Farm on Facebook and message me there.

Paneer

Ingredients:

• 1 quart full-cream goat's milk 
• buttermilk and/or Kefir (use what you have)
• **1/2 cup buttermilk AND 1/2 cup kefir 
• OR 3/4 cup buttermilk 
• OR 3/4 cup kefir
• *you may also use yogurt (1/2 buttermilk and 1/2 yogurt)
• *you can use lemon juice or vinegar, but it tastes differently and the end result isn't as sweet

****When using buttermilk, I always get a much higher yield than when using lemon juice or vinegar.****

Preparation:

• Pour the milk into a heavy pan that will not allow the milk to scorch while heating. Stir often.
  
• As the milk is readied, measure the buttermilk and/or kefir.
  
  You can use store bought buttermilk, but I prefer to make my own. 
  
  
• Watch the milk closely, stirring to keep it from sticking.
• When the milk comes to a boil, add the buttermilk/kefir.
• Reduce the heat and stir.The milk should change colors and begin to separate. Cheese curds will form, leaving a yellowish-greenish colored whey behind. 
  
• Stir continuously until the milk is completely curdled.
• Remove from the heat when the separation of the curds and yellowish whey is complete

• Pour contents of pot into a strainer lined with clean muslin cloth

 

• Wrap the muslin tightly, tie it, and squeeze out excess whey,
  
  holding it under cold water for approximately a minute to help rinse it clean. 

• Hang the cheese for 15-20 minutes so that all the whey is drained out.

SAVE YOUR WHEY FOR THE CHICKENS: They love it.

• To form a block or circle , sit it into a round cheese strainer and place it under something heavy.
• After 20+ minutes, remove from muslin, lightly salt, and cut into chunks. 

You are now ready to use your fresh cheese!!! 

Variations: I make a few. I've made salsa cheese, garlic cheese, pineapple cheese, jalapeno cheese and more. Experiment and have fun!